# The UK needs campanologists for the Coronation **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 22, 2023, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uk-needs-campanologists-for-the-coronation/980213 "2023-02-22T22:13:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mark\_Finn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@Mark\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mark_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2023, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uk-needs-campanologists-for-the-coronation/980213/1 "2023-02-22T22:13:52Z")
A 'campanologist" is a bell ringer, and “campanology” is the study and practice of bell ringing. Traditional ringing (or “change ringing”) is done on a set of bells (usually five or more) - ringing them one at a time in a specific order. [Campanology - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Campanology) Promoters of the upcoming Coronation want the bells to ring in every church in the UK on Coronation Day (May 3), and they are afraid that they can’t find enough ringers. [King Charles coronation: ‘We want bell-ringers in every church’ - BBC News](https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-suffolk-64718027) ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2023, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uk-needs-campanologists-for-the-coronation/980213/2 "2023-02-22T22:29:57Z")
Nice idea but the coronation is only a few months away. Is that enough time for people to become comfortable with change ringing? ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2023, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uk-needs-campanologists-for-the-coronation/980213/3 "2023-02-22T22:32:00Z")
Where is @Quasimodem when you need him. mmm (I know, long gone) ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2023, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uk-needs-campanologists-for-the-coronation/980213/4 "2023-02-22T22:34:52Z")
Maybe Prince Harry could take part by bell ringing. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2023, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uk-needs-campanologists-for-the-coronation/980213/5 "2023-02-22T22:42:42Z")
Campanology? Doesn’t ring a bell for me. ---
**Author:** ![APB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e8cbc/32.png) [@APB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/APB)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2023, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uk-needs-campanologists-for-the-coronation/980213/6 "2023-02-22T22:54:24Z")
It’s not exactly a rare tradition. There were similar projects for the Millennium, the various royal jubilees and the 2012 Olympics. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2023, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uk-needs-campanologists-for-the-coronation/980213/7 "2023-02-22T22:57:10Z")
I’d be happy to pay for my local campanologists to fly to the U.K. so long as they promise not to come back. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2023, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uk-needs-campanologists-for-the-coronation/980213/8 "2023-02-22T23:06:37Z")
> [@Mark\_Finn](#): > > A 'campanologist" is a bell ringer The suffix -ist is common for a skilled musician, but -ologist usually implies an expert in a branch of knowledge. Musicologist vs musician. Were bellringers traditionally also experts in the whole body of knowledge about the technology of bell design, manufacture, tuning etc.? ---
**Author:** ![Toxgoddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Toxgoddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxgoddess)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2023, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uk-needs-campanologists-for-the-coronation/980213/9 "2023-02-23T00:56:25Z")
Ooh, pick me! I played handbells in a church choir. We did everything from “Amazing Grace” to “The Muppet Theme” (which was surprisingly difficult). Where do I send my application? ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2023, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uk-needs-campanologists-for-the-coronation/980213/10 "2023-02-23T02:32:42Z")
I am a [Campagnolo](https://www.campagnolo.com/)gist > [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > Campanology? Doesn’t ring a bell for me. That’s because you’re a ding-dong! ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2023, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uk-needs-campanologists-for-the-coronation/980213/11 "2023-02-23T11:21:29Z")
Ding dong, you say? [![](https://thechap.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/leslie-phillips.jpg) ](https://thechap.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/leslie-phillips.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2023, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uk-needs-campanologists-for-the-coronation/980213/12 "2023-02-23T17:52:41Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Is that enough time for people to become comfortable with change ringing? There are 2 types of change ringing … method ringing, where the sequence changes with each ‘ring’ (so you have to memorise the sequence), and call changing where the sequence change is called out by someone (so you don’t). Two months should be enough for call changing but not method imho. I used to ring, but haven’t for \>30 years (and i’m not going to volunteer !) ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2023, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uk-needs-campanologists-for-the-coronation/980213/13 "2023-02-23T18:06:31Z")
Maybe [Frank DellaPenna](http://castinbronze.net/about-cast-in-bronze) would be interested? ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2023, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uk-needs-campanologists-for-the-coronation/980213/14 "2023-02-23T19:32:09Z")
> [@APB](#): > > There were similar projects for […] the 2012 Olympics. I never tire of this - what happened when the then government minister responsible launched the Olympic version (somehow the words “bell” and “end” come to mind) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/xmCtGKwgJ2k/maxresdefault.jpg "Jeremy Hunt's bell breaks during HMS Belfast's London 2012 Olympics celebration") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmCtGKwgJ2k)